An Algonquin Maiden: A Romance of the Early Days of Upper Canada

by G. Mercer Adam and A. Ethelwyn Wetherald

  CHAPTER XV.

  POLITICS AT THE CAPITAL.

  But more was destined to burgeon into blossom than the flowers ofspring. Allan Dunlop's fame as a politician had grown concurrentlywith the growth of his love. In the Legislature he had won for himselfa prominent position, and was known as a sagacious counsellor, apersuasive speaker, a ready and effective debater, and a good steadyworker on Committees. No name carried more weight in Parliament thanhis, and his influence in the country was as marked as was hisinfluence in the House. This was as readily conceded by his politicalopponents as it was claimed by his friends. He had, moreover, aprepossessing manner, a comely presence, and a countenance which, whenanimated, was not wanting in expression or fire. He was, withal, themost modest and lovable of men; and had he not sat on the Oppositionbenches he would have been courted by the Tory supporters of theGovernment and been fawned upon by the leading members of "The FamilyCompact."

  Allan Dunlop had, however, entered the House as a radical, but of amoderate type; and though he dealt the Executive many trenchant blows,and did yeoman service in advancing the cause of Reform, he was tooloyal a man to rank with the "heated enthusiasts" who were threateningto overturn the Constitution and make a republic out of the colony,and too judicious and right-minded to affirm that the Administrationof the Province was wholly evil and corrupt. On the contrary, while heinsisted that the Executive should pay more deference to the voice ofthe Parliamentary majority, and so avoid the ever-cropping-upconflicts between the Administration and the popular Chamber, herecognized the fact that the evils complained of had their origin indefects in the Act which gave the Province its Constitution; and beingengrained in the paternal system of government that had long been invogue could not possibly be at once and satisfactorily remedied.

  It was true that in none of the other Provinces was power so firmlycentralized in the hands of a dominant and exclusive class, as was thecase in Upper Canada. But this state of things, Allan Dunlop conceded,was a legacy from the period of military rule which followed theConquest, and the natural consequence of appointing members to seatsin the Executive and Legislative Councils _for life_. Dunlop was alsowell aware that the social condition of the Province, at that earlyperiod, tended to centre power and authority of necessity in the handsof a few leading men. All the public offices were in their gift; andthe entire public domain, including the Crown and Clergy Landreserves, was also in their hands. Hence it was that through thepatronage at their disposal the "Family Compact" were enabled to fillthe Lower House with their supporters and adherents, and, in largemeasure, to shape the Provincial Legislation, so as to maintain theirhold of office and perpetuate a monopoly of power. That the rulingoligarchy used their positions autocratically, and kept a heavy handupon the turbulent and disaffected, was true; but their respect forBritish institutions, and their staunch loyalty to the Crown, at atime when republican sentiments were dangerously prevalent, werevirtues which might well offset innumerable misdeeds, and square theaccount in any unprejudiced arraignment.

  But though Allan Dunlop possessed a mind eminently fair and judicial,and, Reformer as he was, could dispassionately discuss the "burningquestions" of the time, there were abuses connected with the mode ofgoverning which he stoutly strove to remedy, and injustice done toloyal settlers in the iniquitous land system that prevailed whichroused his indignation and called forth many a bitter phillipic in theHouse. These trenchant attacks of the young land-surveyor were greatlyfeared by the Executive, and were the cause of much trepidation anduneasiness in the Legislative Council.

  For a time Commodore Macleod, who had now returned to his accustomedduties in the Upper House, took pleasure in replying to Dunlop'sattacks in the Lower Chamber; but the young Parliamentarian, though hetreated his opponent with courtly deference, had so effective a way ofdemolishing the Commodore's arguments and of genially turning theshafts of his invective upon his adversary, that he soon abandoned theattempt to break a lance with his young and able antagonist. Dunlop'stemper was habitually sweet and always under command, and this gavehim a great advantage over his sometimes irascible opponents. Hismanner, however, was at times fiery--especially when exposing cases ofhardship and injustice, when his arraignment of the Executive wasvehement and uncompromising. But the "Family Compact" was at theperiod too firmly entrenched and buttressed about by patronage forAllan Dunlop to effect much reform in the system of government, thoughhis assaults were keenly felt in the Upper House, and they made apowerful impression in the country, which heartily endorsed the youngland-surveyor's strenuous appeals for the redress of long-existingabuses, and the concession of Responsible Government.

  "What a noble fellow that young Dunlop is!" said Lady Sarah Maitlandto her escort in the House, as the youthful tribune closed animpassioned appeal on behalf of settlers from the United States, whohad been subjected to great hardships and outrage by the tools of theGovernment.

  "A pestilent rascal!" was the testy rejoinder of the old Commodore,who, with his daughter Rose, had accompanied her Ladyship on the dayin question to the House of Assembly.

  "Nay! you shall not say that of him, Commodore, for I mean to invitehim to accompany us to Stamford Cottage at the close of the Session,if he will give me that pleasure," said Lady Sarah, warmly.

  "Sir Peregrine will have something to say to that, Madame," was theCommodore's blunt reply, "and Mr. Attorney-General, here," he added,"ought to arrest you for wishing to consort with seditious agitatorsand evil-disposed persons."

  "I think I ought to take you both into custody," interposedAttorney-General Robinson, "for spoiling with your quarrel the effectof young Dunlop's speech. It was admirable, both in tone and matter,and I shall at once look into the grievances he complained of. Don'tyou think, Miss Macleod, that your father is unreasonably prejudicedagainst the member for your section of the Home District?"

  "I think him everything harsh and unpaternal when politics is thesubject of conversation," replied that young lady guardedly.

  "Ah! politics is an unclean game," observed the courtly leader of theHouse; "but it would be vastly sweeter and cleaner were all ourpoliticians of the type of Dunlop. I think him a grand fellow--but, Iagree with you, Commodore, that he should be on the other side."

  "Or we should be on _his_ side, Mr. Attorney-General," said LadySarah, with a meaning glance at Rose Macleod.

  At this juncture, the Attorney-General, having to address the House,took leave of the ladies, and the Government House party rose and leftthe Chamber.

  Later in the day, the Attorney-General took occasion to refer toDunlop's speech, and to commend its temperate and courteous tone,though the matter his young friend brought to the notice of theGovernment, said the Attorney-General, if true, severely reflected onthe management of one of the Departments, which, the speaker added,he would take care at once to inquire into.

  Other matters occupied the attention of the House for the remainder ofthe afternoon, and when the Speaker rose to retire a buzz ofconversation ensued on the stirring topics to be brought up at theevening's sitting. Two of these topics related to matters which, atthe period, convulsed the community, and threatened to overthrow thefabric of society in the colony, if not the Constitution itself. Onewas the case of Captain Matthews, a member of the Assembly, who wascharged with disturbing the tranquillity of the Province by requestingthe orchestra, at the theatre of York, to play sundry seditious tunesat the close of an entertainment, and thus inferentially to paydisrespect to His Majesty's crown and person. The other was theescapade of a number of young people in York, of respectable standing,who had committed a gross breach of the peace in breaking into andransacking the printing-office of Wm. Lyon Mackenzie, smashing thepresses of that martyr to Reform, and throwing into the lake the typewhich had been used in setting up some pungent articles against theGovernment.

  "Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" the moralizingbystander of the period might have observed, as he took note of theelectrical condition of the political atmosph
ere of York, and, indeed,of the whole Province--the result of the indiscretion of one man, andthe partisan frolic of half a dozen lads, who had inherited, with thebluest of Tory blood, the prejudices of their fathers. The wrecking ofthe Mackenzie printing-office was, of course, a serious conspiracyagainst the peace of a youthful and law-abiding community. But it willoccur to the modern reader of the transaction, that the act wasscarcely so heinous as to bring it before the country's legislature,and become the subject of a grave Parliamentary inquiry.

  The act has to be viewed, however, in the light of preceding events,and with a knowledge of facts in the thrilling drama of Reform, at thetime being enacted on the political stage of Upper Canada. Society inthe Province was long wont to poise itself between two opinions, as tothe degree of justification for the course which Reform took at thetime of the Gourlay agitation, and which, in Mackenzie's day,culminated in rebellion. The issues of the conflict have, however,settled that point; and though Tory bias loves still to stand by the"Family Compact," the popular sympathies are with the actors who werewhilom outlawed, and on whose heads the Crown did them the honour, fora time, to set a high value.

  Chief among these actors, at the time of which we are writing, was hewhose printing-presses had just been ruthlessly demolished, and whosefonts of type youthful Torydom had gleefully consigned to the deep.The provocation had been a long series of intemperate newspapercriticism of the Government, numerous inflammatory appeals to thepeople to rise against constituted authority, and much scurrilousabuse of leading members of the "Family Compact," who wished, as asafeguard against revolution and chaos, to crush the "patriot"Mackenzie, and drive him from the Province. But though thorny as wasthen the path of Reform, and galling the insult and injury done to itsmartyrs, Mackenzie did not shrink from pursuing the course he had cutout for himself; and his intense hatred of injustice, and sturdydefiance of those whom he held responsible for the maladministrationof affairs, gained him many adherents and sympathizers. The outragethat had just been committed on his property vastly increased thenumber of the latter, while popular indignation compelled theGovernment to disown the act, and to make it, as we have seen, thesubject of Parliamentary inquiry. From the Parliament the matter wentto the Courts, and there the scapegraces, who had been concerned inthe outrage, were mulcted in a large amount, which their parents, highgovernment officials, had ruefully to pay over to the aggrievedprinter and incipient rebel. Thus ended one act in the drama of thesedistraught times. How shall we keep our countenance and deal with theother?

  Let us first tell the story, as we gather it, in the main, from theJournals of the House. For some time previous to the meeting of theLegislature, in 1826, partisans of the Administration had got in thehabit of noting defections from the loyal side among men of substanceand position in the colony, and particularly among members of therepresentative Chamber, where the cry for Responsible Government waswaxing loud, and where sullen protests were almost daily heard againstthe system of official patronage and favouritism that prevailed in thegovernment of the Province. The Administration being now in theminority in the popular Chamber, and "the long shadows of CanadianRadicalism" having begun to settle upon the troubled "Family Compact,"it became important to note the increasing defections, real orfancied, in the Legislative Assembly, so that, if possible, the"bolters" might be coaxed or bribed back, or, failing that, that theymight, in some way, be jockeyed out of the House and made to sufferfor their defection. Among those who had recently taken the bit intheir teeth was a Captain Matthews, a retired officer, in receipt of apension, who represented the county of Middlesex, and had of late goneover to Democracy. For this act he was "put upon the list," and becamea marked man on the mental tablets of the myrmidons of the Executive.

  About this time there came to York a company of strolling actors fromthe neighbouring Republic, whose fortunes were at a low ebb, and whosedignity had very much run down at the heels. To revive their fortunes,they gave an entertainment in the extemporized theatre of the town,under the kindly proffered patronage of the members of the Legislature.It was New Year's Eve, and the fun--the age was still a bibulousone--waxed fast and furious. At last the curtain dropped, and themodest orchestra struck up "God save the king!" Hats were at oncedoffed, and from among the standing audience came a loud but unsteadyvoice, calling upon the orchestra to "play up" Hail Columbia! orYankee Doodle.

  The sober section of the play-house was stunned. Was it possible thatDemocracy could go to such lengths--within sight of the "royal arms,"over the Lieutenant-Governor's box, and with the decaying notes of thenational anthem in Tory ears?

  It was but too true. Again and again rose the shout for the seditioustunes. Abashed loyalty sought to escape from the house, but the crowdjostled and intervened. The scene now became uproarious. AffrightedConservatives were seen to jam their hats on their heads--the onlymark of disapproval possible--and glare defiance at those who impededthe exit. The Tory member for Stormonth--it was afterwards admitted inevidence--stripped his coat and threatened to knock any two of theopposing Radicals down. Meanwhile the orchestra, unable to accomplishthe higher flight of "Hail Columbia!" struck up the commoner and moreobjectionable tune; and three grave legislators, it is said, dancedwhile "Yankee Doodle" was played. The Democratic orgie at last spentitself with the music, and after a while all breathed the outer,communistic air of heaven.

  After the racket comes the reckoning; and Captain Matthews, whoseshare in inducing the play-house fiddlers to discourse republicanmusic to monarchical ears was reported with due exaggerations andaspersions on his loyalty, to the military authorities, speedily foundhimself the victim of an infamous plot. Distorted accounts of thescene at the theatre had been sent to the Commander of the Forces, atQuebec; and the member for Middlesex was specially singled out as theseditious rioter on the occasion, and the leader in what was termed "adisloyal and disgraceful affair." Presently there came an order forCapt. Matthews to report himself to the military authorities atQuebec, and at that port to take ship for England, where he was to betried by court-martial. To enable him to obey the summons it was firstnecessary to obtain leave of absence from the Legislature; and themotion that was to come up in the Assembly that evening, was, whetherthe House, on the evidence before it, would agree to release theincriminated officer from his Parliamentary duties so as to face thefrivolous charge at the "Horse-Guards" in London.

  The discussion opened by the presentation to the House of the reportof the Committee of Inquiry that had sat upon the matter--a reportwhich exonerated Captain Matthews from the charge preferred againsthim, and relieved him from the scandalous accusation of disloyalty.The report closed with a protest against the tendency, on the part ofthe Government, to resort to espionage and inquisitorial measures, inendeavouring to rid the Province of those obnoxious to the rulingfaction, and in attempting to undermine the independence of theLegislature by scandalizing its members and awing them into politicalsubserviency. The conviction was reiterated that there was no groundfor the charge against Captain Matthews, the malignity and falsity ofwhich was due to political hostility to that gentleman.

  A lively debate ensued on the motion to receive the report, members ofthe Government fiercely objecting to its reception by the House, andthe Opposition as warmly insisting on its acceptance. The temper ofthe Government was not improved when young Dunlop rose, and, in a fewquiet and well-chosen words, asserted the right of Parliament toprotect its members from officious military arraignment on frivolousand vexatious pretexts. It was the duty of the Government, remarkedthe young tribune, to calm, not to augment, the fever of popularexcitement by acts of an arbitrary and autocratic character,--such asinstigating ridiculous prosecutions, and casting doubt on the loyaltyof men who had long and faithfully served the Crown, and whose onlyfault was to set their country above their party.

  That the existence of Upper Canada as a colony of the Crown--Dunlopcontinued--was imperiled by paying some exigent actors from the otherside of the line the compliment of calling
for a national air dear torepublican hearts and ears, he did not for a moment believe. He was,at the same time, he affirmed, keenly sensitive to the beguilingeffects of enlivening music, and--falling into a lighter vein--heconfessed that he did not know what might be the consequence if themembers of the Government organized themselves into a well-trainedminstrel troupe and entered the neighbouring Republic singing thepathetic airs of the Old Dominion, artfully interspersed with thesoul-stirring strains of the "British Grenadiers" and "Rule Britannia."He thought, moreover, that if the grave and reverend seigniors of the"Family Compact" would blacken their faces as they had blackened theirhearts, and "star" it through the lowly hamlets of the Province,singing, say, the Jacobite airs of a previous generation, it would domore to cement the attachment of Canada to the Crown than all theefforts of the combined army of officials, placemen, and henchmen ofthe Government _plus_ the Judges, the Sheriffs, the Recorder, theIncumbents of fat Clergy Reserves, the Gauge's, Tollmen, Hangmen,Customs Officers, Turnkeys, and Landing-Waiters.

  Seriously, Allan Dunlop added,--and he had no apology to make forindulging in levity in discussing this frivolous matter--it wasbeneath the dignity of the House to occupy itself with the furtherconsideration of the charges against the honourable member forMiddlesex. These charges were so trivial and ill-founded, and theyoriginated in such a trumpery fear lest the Crown should sufferindignity where indignity was in no wise offered to it, that he beggedthe House to dismiss the matter forthwith and refuse Captain Matthewsleave to absent himself from his Parliamentary duties. After ascattering fusilade of small talk from both sides of the House, thereport of the Committee was received, leave was refused, and thedisturbing question was laid at rest.

  Those who have followed, it may be with interest, this veracious pieceof history, and are curious to learn the fate of the honourable memberfor Middlesex, will find the story graphically told in Mr. Dent's"Canadian Rebellion," Vol. I., chap. 6. The authors take the libertyof appending Mr. Dent's closing paragraph: "But though CaptainMatthews," says the historian, "had been cleared by the Legislature,he had still to run the gauntlet of the military inquisition. Theycould not compel his attendance during the existence of the Parliamentthen in being, but they possessed an effectual means of reducing himto ultimate submission. This power they exercised; his pension wasstopped--a very serious matter to a man with a large family and manyresponsibilities. He continued to fight the battles of Reform withdogged courage and pertinacity as long as his means admitted of hisdoing so, but he was soon reduced to a condition of great pecuniarydistress, and was compelled to succumb. Broken-hearted and worn out,he resigned his seat in the Assembly, and returned to England, where,after grievous delay, he succeeded in getting his pension restored. Henever returned to Canada, and survived the restoration of his pensionbut a short time. Thus, through the malignity of a selfish and secretcabal, was Upper Canada deprived of the services of a zealous anduseful citizen and legislator, whose residence among us, had it beencontinued, could not have failed to advance the cause of freedom andjustice."